adventure – Page 2 – Lois and Clark Explorers

Here we are at the old gate to the walled city. Today we took a bus to the old city as it was way too far to walk. Today’s temperature when we left was only 83. And yet the temperature continued to climb through out the day. It started out really nice. This is where the Game of Thrones was filmed but we did not take that tour. There were so many steps and once you got up above everyone you walked in the bright sun (there was no shade). It just sounded horrible to me and since I didn’t watch Game of Thrones.

It was a great day in town. We met up with Christy and Leeman and the kids and Shelley. The kids weren’t loving it and wanted to go back to the ship so we took them and Shelley back to the boat on the bus. We got real lucky because one bus was pulling away and the next one coming in so we were first on board.

We took the kids to the pool. Of course they had to check out the buffet first. The boys had ice cream and cakes and all kids of sweets. Sefina grabbed pizza, steamed dumplings and a slice of watermelon. The pool wasn’t as refreshing as the one at the vineyard but it still felt good.

The kids slowly deserted us and headed off to play with their cousins so we meandered back to our rooms. The rest of the group wanted to go to the dining room instead of the buffet but John and I opted to see what the buffet had to offer. After eating we, John and I, went up to deck 11 to watch the sunset. Another beautiful sight. The kids all came up and we sat in the lounge and then headed for the Whitney Houston impersonator. She was amazing. I didn’t think anyone could do her justice–I was wrong.

Tomorrow we have to get up at 5:00 am to see us pull into port. We have been told it is an amazing sight. Can’t wait!!

We started our day with a morning walk to see the sunrise. This was around 5:30 am

I woke up about 1:00 am and could not fall asleep. I could hear the kids upstairs so I knew they were awake too. I could see the sun was coming up so I called to them to come downstairs and go for a walk. Christy was up too so off we went. Who’d of thought I would be caught up and walking at that early hour. No one! lol

After our walk we had breakfast here at Fattoria Laloggia. We drove to a parking lot to take a train into town because rental cars are not allowed to park in town. That is reserved for the locals. It is a huge fine if you park a rental in most of the big cities in Italy. The drive was about 20-30 minutes (much longer on the way in due to traffic) then the tram/bus was about 15 minutes. From there we walked everywhere. It was 93 degrees and so crowded. We knew this would be the case before we got there but it really took a toll on me. Whew! Lines were out the door and wrapping around building around the block. We really saw nothing because of it. I was too hot to even eat. The kids wanted a gelato and I didn’t even want that. But, luckily we were able to get a seat inside and I could sit down in air conditioning and rest. I was ready to go and so were the kids. Bazlo said, “She’s too old and we are too young!” So we took them with us and went back to the pool. Best part of the day.

After playing in the pool we all took a nap and headed out to dinner at Capanna De Gallo. A small restaurant only 7 minutes away.

Our first stop for the day was Barataria Preserve. It is one of 6 sights scattered across Louisiana as part of the Jean Lafitte’s National Parks. We arrived to discover, not only are dogs not allowed but there was only one short trail open. We put Chanel in the car with a window open and walked the .25 mile trail. Luckily it was early and the temperatures were in the high 60’s low 70’s by the time we finished. This guy is the only wildlife we saw. After walking the trail, getting my National Park stamp, we head to the city. New Orleans has lots of dog friendly restaurants and we chose
Flamingo A Go Go. It didn’t disappoint. We had lunch and they even brought a bowl of water for Chanel. She is soooo good. She sat quietly while we ate. After lunch we headed, on foot, to the French Quarter. After getting lost, we went back to the car and drove to the French Quarter. It was a full day and we got back in time for a not so spectacular sunset on Lake Pontchartrain and dinner and a few games of scrabble. John slaughtered me in both games. OMG! It was bad.

This was our favorite sunset pictures from that night.

The next morning we got up to go to a walk at a Bayou but unfortunately we could not find it. Our gps said we had arrive but there was nothing there. We tried another address–same thing. We were in the middle of a bayou but there were no walkways or parking lots. We did find a parking lot along the street with a dock and boat launch. We stopped and took a few pictures of some ducks and headed for another location. We arrived there only to discover–no pets. Ugh. We went back to the campsite and decided to go ahead and leave. The trails were closed at the park and we could be home in 6 1/5 hours so why not. It was only noon.